13 Sep 2021
“We must rewild the world!” said the great David Attenborough. Wise birds. Sorry, we mean herds. Wait, no – words! Got there in the end.
As we were trying to say, we need to restore stability to our planet so our future generations can enjoy it just as much as we can. Which means restoring its biodiversity, as we talked about recently.
There’s a simple way we can contribute. You don’t even have to leave your home.
It starts with your garden.
Let’s transform our green spaces into little Edens for all things wild and wonderful.
These 12 tips will teach you how.
It’s tempting to build a fortress around your garden for the ultimate private haven. But doing so cuts off animals like hedgehogs and foxes that seek a green refuge. Having gaps in your fences is much more critter-friendly.
Build a mini jungle where beetles can shelter and little birds can snack on seeds. All you have to do is sit back and let the grass grow from the start of Spring until the end of June. Feel free to go mower-happy from autumn onwards (but we tip our hats to those who wait even longer!).
Encourage wildflowers to grow by ceasing mowing through the summer months. You can also add plug plants to your lawn after a spring cut. Butterflies love nectar-rich flowers like bluebells, marigolds, buttercups, lavender and hyacinth.
Birds (also known as birbs) are candy to the ears and eyes, so why not encourage them to visit your garden? Bird feeders filled with nuts and seeds make this easy, as we have discovered at our Cotswolds office. Check out our live birdcam and see for yourselves!
Nature loves decay so we should too. It puts precious nutrients back into the ground, providing a food source for many of the species at the base of our ecosystem. Embrace decay by creating a log pile or a compost. You can also stack shrubs and plant prunings under your hedge to form beds and grubfests.
Different birds like settling on different branch heights. For instance, long-tailed tits like to hop from tree to tree above head height. While wrens prefer the dense cover of plants low down. Branch out with different heights to accommodate all the birds!
Butterflies, spiders, snails, ladybirds, nesting birds … they all share one love – scrub! It gives them a safe space to shelter all through the year. So go crazy with some brambles, blackhorn, honeysuckle or wild rose. You might just get some beautiful flowers to boot!
Add a pond or birdbath to your garden and nature will LOVE you for it. Witness the miracle of life in Spring as frogs and toads appear, leaving frogspawn and then tadpoles in their wake! It might be tempting to add fish, but we advise against it – they can put off other animals from visiting your water source (except cats and herons …).
Leave birds a delicious snack when food is scarce in winter by resisting the temptation to prune dead-head plants. Yep, you heard us right. Less work for you equals more food for the tweeters!
Dedicate a corner of your garden to a wood or leaf pile. You’ll create a brilliant hiding and egg-laying spot for passing insects. You could also drill holes into wood for solitary birds to nest in.
Not only are slug pellets a nasty way to kill our friendly molluscs but they are dangerous to other wildlife such as hedgehogs, birds and cats. A natural way to deter slugs is by attracting predators like birds. Another reason to get a bird feeder or bath!
Imagine if your whole area rewilded their gardens! The impact on nature would be, well, wild! And you can be at the heart of it all. You just need to share these tips with your friends, family and neighbors. Or even better, invite them to your garden and share the magic of rewilding. It’s party thyme!
